April 29, 2009
by wkirkland
Yippie!
“The Obama administration today revoked an eleventh-hour Bush-era rule that undermined protections for plants and animals listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act.
“Passed in January 2009, the Bush-era rule lifted the requirement that federal agencies consult wildlife experts with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration before taking actions that could harm listed species. The Bush move allowed federal agencies to decide for themselves if their own projects, such as roads, dams and mines, would hurt species.
“Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, who head the two agencies that administer the Endangered Species Act, said their decision to again require consultation before action is based on sound science.
“By rolling back this 11th hour regulation, we are ensuring that threatened and endangered species continue to receive the full protection of the law,” Salazar said.
“Because science must serve as the foundation for decisions we make, federal agencies proposing to take actions that might affect threatened and endangered species will once again have to consult with biologists at the two departments,” he said. “
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